While those accused in the Golden Temple and Kapurthala incidents were beaten to death, those in the Batala police district, according to cops and the leadership of the local gurdwara committee, managed to escape.

It was not clear whether the Batala incident was aimed at desecrating or stealing the money from the offerings (golak), the head of the local gurdwara committee in Kotli village Bhan Singh told the Indian Express by telephone. Narinder Singh.

Punjab Police Director General Sidhharth Chattopadhyaya told The Indian Express: “Surprisingly, three incidents have occurred. The Batala incident was not brought to light as it was not reported and no sacrilege took place. Chattopadhyaya added that there was also no sacrilege in Kapurthala. This is all very suspect.

He added that after the Golden Temple incident, “We put the police on high alert and directed [chiefs of] police districts and stations to liaise with the SGPC leadership and other local gurdwaras to put their staff on duty with the Punjab police to prevent such an incident ”.

Chattopadhyaya said investigations were ongoing in the case even though the man lynched for attempting to desecrate the Golden Temple sanctum sanctorum had not yet been identified. The police were trying to determine the identity of the person on the basis of his biometric data which could have been recorded on his Aadhaar card.

Batala Police Chief Superintendent Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar, when contacted, said the locks of the main gurdwara hall which housed the Sikh scriptures in the village of Kotli Bhan Singh were broken. According to police information, three men on motorcycles were involved in this affair… One of them remained near the wall and another entered inside. They arrived at 12:54 am and left at 1:07 am.

The head of the non-SGPC local gurdwara committee, Narinder Singh told The Indian Express that he visited the gurdwara after the police issued a notice that the local gurdwara committees should put someone in. one on duty to prevent such incidents after the Golden Temple incident. .

“Sub-Inspector Nirjeet Singh called and said gurdwara should be kept under surveillance after the Golden Temple incident. Gurdwara granthi Rashpal Singh told me he was alone and I myself decided to go. We heard a noise during the night and found that an attempt had been made to open the lock of the main hall which housed the saroops. The accused was unable to break the padlock, but managed to break the hook to which the padlock was attached. “However, they could not enter the main hall.

Before, on the run, the accused even tried to lock the door to the room where we slept. But, while we resisted, the accused fled. We then sounded the alarm, followed by an announcement from the gurdwara sound system detailing the incident, ”said Narinder Singh, who is the former Sarpanch of the villages, serving between 2000 and 2007, while “Being with Congress,” remaining “subsequently associated with Shiromani Akali Dal” and “keeping options open and examining the likelihood of farmers getting into the polls” ahead of legislative elections in the state.

He said efforts were underway to review footage from CCTV cameras installed at the gurdwara as “the password for the same was not known”. He added that the person who installed the CCTV cameras had gone to Canada and the Gurdwara committee was trying to retrieve the footage by having the digital video recorder examined by a person handling the CCTV cameras in Batala.

He said the details police collected were based on other CCTV cameras set up elsewhere nearby.
“We don’t know if this was an attempted sacrilege or looting the golak’s money,” Singh added. Narinder Singh, who has two sons living in Italy, said police also visited another gurdwara in the village run by the listed caste community to see if a similar attempt was made there as well.

A case under section 295-A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class by insulting their religion or religious beliefs) 457 (Trespassing or burglary of a house at night in order to commit a punishable offense imprisonment), 380 (Theft from a dwelling, etc.) and section 511 (Punishment for attempting to commit offenses punishable by imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at the Batala Civil Lines police station on the complaint of Narinder Singh against unknown persons in connection with the incident in the village of Kotli Bhan Singh.